It’s our favorite month of the year – B Corp month. This year, we celebrate in the spirit of “the way forward.” You see, working with impact and sustainability is a forever work in progress. There is no destination. It’s a road less traveled – and we keep moving forward. 

So, how do we move forward? Being a B Corp. Implementing a holistic sustainability strategy that takes into account the planet, people, health and profit. Calculating our carbon emissions. Collaborating closely with our suppliers. Essentially, sharing openly and honestly how we lead the transition to sustainable freight. The initiatives that work and the initiatives that don’t work. We’re not perfect. We’re not sustainable. We’re responsible.

That’s precisely why we’re so proud to be a B Corp. Because B Corp certification isn’t a destination. It’s an invitation to join the journey and inspires us to become a better business every day.

Today is a super special day for us. We’re extremely excited to announce that we’ve launched our very own Carbon Calculator on our fleet platform. All our customers are now able to see their fleet’s total CO2 emissions. This is a tool we’ve developed in-house and that is available free of charge on our fleet platform. It not only shows a fleet’s total carbon emissions. Our customers can also differentiate between fuel and manufacturing emissions.

This is a huge milestone for us and a culmination of many years of planet efforts to calculate our trailers’ CO2 emissions. We firmly believe in taking a collaborative approach. We know first-hand how difficult it is to get an accurate picture of CO2 emissions. With this Carbon Calculator, we want to support our customers as much as possible in knowing their carbon emissions. This tool will also help customers to fulfil their CSRD reporting requirements.

For now, we’ve launched a beta version of our Carbon Calculator. We welcome any feedback, so please feel free to reach out to us with any questions, comments, insights and more.

Contact us:

Jonas Vang, Chief Product & Technology Officer: jonas@pnorental.com

PNO joined the UN’s Business and Human Rights Accelerator. From February 2024 onwards, we’ll be attending this programme to strengthen our awareness on human rights. In 2023, we’ve focused a lot on other impact categories such as the environment, governance and employees. We have a limited understanding on the impact our initiatives might have on human rights. 2024 will be the year we will focus more actively on working with human rights and preventing negative human rights impacts.

That’s why we joined the UN’s Business and Human Rights Accelerator Program. We can’t do this alone and want to learn from experts. This is a 6-month programme that will help us to both to commit and take action on human rights. We’ll identify impacts on human rights, establish a due diligence process and develop an action plan. Another year, another impact journey to embark upon. We can’t wait. Stay tuned!

Another day, another sustainability assessment. PNO Sweden has partnered with EcoVadis to undergo a sustainability rating. At PNO, we value receiving an independent, third-party assessment as it provides an outside perspective on our sustainability performance, ESG risk management, and the impact we have on people and the planet.

We have been rated in the areas of environment, human and labor rights, and ethics. We’re very excited to announce that we have been awarded the Platinum EcoVadis Medal and achieved a score higher than 78/100. This result places us among the top 1 percent of companies assessed by EcoVadis.

Our purpose is to lead the transition to sustainable freight. We constantly push the boundaries to create a more responsible version of PNO where we make a profound impact. As a responsible company, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a fundamental pillar in our work. We’re committed to creating an inclusive workplace with diverse teams across all levels, including diversity of thought, culture, and gender.

We all know – actions speak louder than words. So, we’ve taken a hard look in the mirror and decided to set both near and long-term DE&I targets to understand our performance and address any gaps. Across every area of our business, we focus on maintaining a diverse and equitable workforce. For 2024, we have set specific DE&I targets across 9 areas to ensure that we hold ourselves accountable.

  1. Gender: Gender gap analysis, women in leadership coaching program, dedicated gender and diversity workgroup
  2. Internal initiatives: Training for hiring managers and recruitment, Moments that matter across different cultures, PNO-wide DE&I surveys
  3. External initiatives: More women in our advisory board, supplier engagement and assessment for DE&I efforts, language analysis for all communication

It’s about walking the talk. Curious to learn more about our concrete targets? Check out our 2024 targets here.

Last Friday, we had the pleasure to attend B Corp Nordic’s event to celebrate that we’re a community of 100+ B Corps in the Nordics now. Our key takeaways?

  1. It only takes one person with a dream and a vision to start a movement that can challenge the status quo.
  2. Our actions matter and make a positive impact – especially when we come together as a community.
  3. Let’s be more compassionate. Our journey to sustainability is unique, and we’re all at a different point.

This movement is a great source of motivation to challenge the status quo and find ways to make the (business) world a better place – in our case, to lead the transition to sustainable freight.

Cheers to all the B Corps out there!

PNO Finland handed over the all-electric Schmitz Cargobull S.KOe COOL semi-trailer to its customer Transmar. This is the only Schmitz e-reefer unit in the Nordics and PNO Finland is piloting this unit with different customers, before serial production slots are expected to be available in Q2 2024.

We’re particularly excited that Transmar decided to take the e-reefer into traffic. Transmar was founded in 1961 and operates in Finland, Sweden and the Åland islands. PNO and Transmar have cooperated for several years, with increasing dialogue in recent years. Close and trusted partnerships are a key ethos of ours at PNO. That’s why we’re particularly excited to learn more about Transmar’s experience with this e-reefer unit.

“We have a very good contact with PNO Finland, they always try their best to find a solution for our needs”, says Hans-Erik Eker, Fleet Manager, at Transmar.

In the world of logistics and transportation, the quest for efficiency and sustainability is ever-present. One solution that is gaining momentum is the Duo Trailer, a configuration featuring two trailers attached to a single truck. This concept, which is not entirely new and is already used in other countries, will gain momentum in Sweden due to changing legislation. 

 

Changing Legislation in Sweden

The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) and other local authorities are working to improve the efficiency and sustainability of transportation, especially in key areas like ports, terminals, and industrial zones. This will become possible with the Duo trailer concept. As of December 1st, 2023, the Swedish Transport Administration is opening its roads to these extended vehicle combinations. The Duo trailer is a configuration that involves linking two trailers to a single truck. This effectively creates a road train. The Duo concept allows for a higher load-carrying capacity per trip. It is essential to note that Sweden is not the only country exploring this concept. Other countries, such as Finland, have already embraced it, showcasing its effectiveness and potential.

 

What do these changes mean for our customers? 

The Duo Trailer configuration enables the transportation of larger loads in a single trip, reducing the number of journeys required for the same amount of cargo. This results in increased transport efficiency and cost savings. Since Finland has already embraced the concept, this means our customers will be able to transport more cargo across multiple countries in the Nordics. Using Duo Trailers leads to a reduction in CO2 emissions, estimated at 27%. 

We can help our customers comply with these new rules to optimize their operations. Contact us today to learn more about these solutions and how they can benefit your business.

Building a diverse team and an inclusive workplace for all is incredibly important to us at PNO. That’s why we’ve also joined the UN’s Target Gender Equality Accelerator. As part of this work, we’re conducting a Gender Gap Analysis. We’ve now updated our insights for 2023. You can find it here.

Mental Health is a human right. We all struggle with our mental health at some point. And that’s ok. It’s more than that. It’s human. At PNO, we support everyone to take time and space for themselves. Each quarter, we introduce a new health initiative.

Learn more here.